Hickenlooper, Bennet, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Block Taxpayer Handouts for Corporate Oil Investments in Venezuela

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet joined their Senate colleagues to introduce the No Taxpayer Funds for Corporate Investment in Venezuelan Oil Act, which would prohibit the Trump administration from giving taxpayer-funded handouts to oil companies investing in Venezuela's oil and gas sector.

"President Trump is focused on enriching oil companies while Americans struggle to afford groceries, housing, and health care," said Hickenlooper. "We refuse to allow taxpayers to foot the bill for U.S. oil companies' start-up costs."

"President Trump seized Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro without Congressional authority or even notification, and the next day, touted the investment opportunities created by this incursion. Now, he says the U.S. government should reimburse oil giants' costs to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry, which could cost at least $100 billion," Bennet said. "This would be an outrageous misuse of taxpayer dollars, especially given the lack of oil industry interest in investing in Venezuela amid widespread corruption and poor governance - products of the same authoritarian regime with which President Trump is now cooperating to 'run' Venezuela. The American people did not vote to subsidize this reckless misadventure."

Their bill would bar the Department of the Treasury from reimbursing U.S. and foreign companies' capital expenditure investments in Venezuela, including leasing rights, infrastructure improvements, and land purchases. The legislation would not prevent private investment in Venezuela but only limit Treasury reimbursement.

Full text of the bill is available HERE.

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